Watertown native starts support program for Syrian refugees

Friday

May 9, 2014 at 4:32 PMMay 9, 2014 at 4:32 PM

by Adam Sennottwatertown@wickedlocal.com

There are currently more than 200,000 Syrian refugees living in Northern Iraq, including many children who lack the necessary tools to get a quality education.Watertown native Zach Bazzi is trying to change that.Bazzi and two of his friends recently founded TENT ED, a program that helps fund school supplies for Syrian children living about nine refugee camps in Northern Iraq. While many children living in these camps are able to attend school, Bazzi said he has raised nearly $6,000 so far, which he will use to purchase text books, backpacks, writing utensils, and other necessities students are currently lacking.Bazzi, who served in Iraq during the insurgency in 2004, said that he became aware of the need for school supplies in Syrian refugee camps while he was working in Iraq for a small consulting firm last year, and went to the camps as a volunteer.Though Bazzi said many of the larger needs of the children living in these camps are met, such as food, shelter, and school, smaller issues such as getting basic schools supplies are often not a priority."The big organizations, they’re very bureaucratic, they’re very good at good at taking care of big things [and making] big things happen," Bazzi said. "You know setting up the tents, setting up the schools, but to ask big organizations to turn around an supply very specific things to maybe 200 kids out of 400 on a particular camp is very difficult to do so rapidly."Bazzi said that after he saw that there was a need for school supplies within these camps, he decided it was time to take action. And while some may say that a lack of school supplies in a refugee camp is a small issue, Bazzi said it can go a long way."I have a god-daughter, she’s 10-years old," Bazzi said. "I couldn’t imagine telling her that she needs to go to school without school supplies because the [issues] are too small."That in and of itself sends a message to that kid that no one cares enough about them to provide these things," Bazzi said. "I think these things add up and have a big impact on the quality of education that these kids have."Bazzi is no stranger working in impoverished war torn regions. Shortly after graduating from Watertown high School in 1997 he enlisted and served in the 101st Airborne division, his four-years of service included two-piece keeping missions in Bosnia and Kosovo.When he finished in 2001 he enrolled into the University of New Hampshire, where he later earned a degree in psychology, and later the New Hampshire National Guard. By 2004 he was serving in Iraq.While his military experience has brought his across the world, it has also given him and his two friends an added layer of support as they embark on their latest mission."My friends in the veteran community have be hugely supportive of this project, which has been very meaningful for me," Bazzi said.While Bazzi said he’s raised $6,000 so far, he’s not done. He hopes to raise a total of $27,000 by June 10. He said he then plans to take the money back to Northern Iraq and purchase the supplies locally because it’s cheaper then shipping them from the U.S. and it will also help the local economy in Iraq.He also said he hopes his efforts will help improve the reputation of the United States in the minds of locals."The three of us are very military minded and we know that we want to do something good, but this is also an area of the world where sometimes unfairly the U.S. may not have the best reputation," Bazzi said. "To do this over there we think has the added benefit of showing people that America cares, that there’s people out there that care, and hopefully fight some of the stereotypes out there."